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John MacArthur's newest book Christ's Call to Reform the Church comes out October 9, 2018!
This book is actually a commentary on the first 7 chapters of Revelation, thinly veiled as just another book. But he already wrote that commentary, and of course it has a much smaller audience. This is a commentary modified to be sermonic, a public call to the church, not a mere exercise in academic theology. To be exhaustive, like a commentary, he even covers the church of Philadelphia, which has no real call for reformation, but a commentary can't cover just 6 out of 7 churches. However, there was too much "eis-egesis" and not enough exegesis when writing about the church |
of Sardis. This criticism is only valid if the book was indeed meant only to be a theological commentary. Instead, this is more of a sermon.
It is not MacArthur's intention to "turn this country back to God." Rather, it's to turn the church back to God. He is definitely not a post-millennialist, although there used to be a strong tendency for such in his dispensational theology. In essence, he's saying, "Stop trying to change the world and make it a better place. Instead, be the church." He unpacks God's message to the 7 churches in the book of Revelation to show what it means to be the church.
I expected a moral tirade and a desperate call to repentance. Instead, he just presents the Word as it is, and let the message convict the reader, or not. He doesn't slap the reader to attention. Almost unemotionally, he explains, like a commentary, what Jesus demands from his church and the consequences of disobedience. The subtitle of the book is Christ's Call to Reform the Church, not "John MacArthur's Call." He doesn't go off on his own criticism of what the church is now and all the things that need to change. He rarely says, "The church has to..." Actually, he rarely addresses the Church at all. He lets Christ speak for Himself, as he soundly exposits the passages in Revelation like a commentator. I wished he would speak out more, because he has clout, and people would listen to him, and he does so behind the pulpit and other venues, but in this book MacArthur is just a messenger. It's not his personal call to the church based on his convictions and observations.
However, it is in the final chapter that we actually get what we were looking for when we picked up this book - John MacArthur's assessment, criticism, and call to reform the church. I wished that he started off with this chapter, because that's what we really want to read, not a commentary on Revelation. But then, it would be seen as a just a personal message, from a mere man, albeit a respected and proven pastor. By putting this chapter at the end, it serves as a culminating warning that summarizes and puts into today's context the rebukes of Jesus from Revelation. It's hard to disagree with the man, when he's simply mimicking the words of our Lord (although I do disagree with a few of his generalizations).
It's a must-read for anyone who even vaguely recognizes that there's something terribly wrong with the Church today. At least, read the last chapter.
I would like to thank Moody Publishers for an advance copy of this book:
It is not MacArthur's intention to "turn this country back to God." Rather, it's to turn the church back to God. He is definitely not a post-millennialist, although there used to be a strong tendency for such in his dispensational theology. In essence, he's saying, "Stop trying to change the world and make it a better place. Instead, be the church." He unpacks God's message to the 7 churches in the book of Revelation to show what it means to be the church.
I expected a moral tirade and a desperate call to repentance. Instead, he just presents the Word as it is, and let the message convict the reader, or not. He doesn't slap the reader to attention. Almost unemotionally, he explains, like a commentary, what Jesus demands from his church and the consequences of disobedience. The subtitle of the book is Christ's Call to Reform the Church, not "John MacArthur's Call." He doesn't go off on his own criticism of what the church is now and all the things that need to change. He rarely says, "The church has to..." Actually, he rarely addresses the Church at all. He lets Christ speak for Himself, as he soundly exposits the passages in Revelation like a commentator. I wished he would speak out more, because he has clout, and people would listen to him, and he does so behind the pulpit and other venues, but in this book MacArthur is just a messenger. It's not his personal call to the church based on his convictions and observations.
However, it is in the final chapter that we actually get what we were looking for when we picked up this book - John MacArthur's assessment, criticism, and call to reform the church. I wished that he started off with this chapter, because that's what we really want to read, not a commentary on Revelation. But then, it would be seen as a just a personal message, from a mere man, albeit a respected and proven pastor. By putting this chapter at the end, it serves as a culminating warning that summarizes and puts into today's context the rebukes of Jesus from Revelation. It's hard to disagree with the man, when he's simply mimicking the words of our Lord (although I do disagree with a few of his generalizations).
It's a must-read for anyone who even vaguely recognizes that there's something terribly wrong with the Church today. At least, read the last chapter.
I would like to thank Moody Publishers for an advance copy of this book:
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